The Long Beach City Council voted recently to establish a joint use committee with the Long Beach Unified School District’s Board of Education members to pool resources and search for ways to save money.

“We’ve worked at having a formal relationship with members of the city council in the past, and we didn’t quite get there,” said Felton Williams, LBUSD board president, at the July 12 city council meeting. “But we can recognize the importance of having that kind of relationship, particularly in this day and time.”

The cash-strapped entities are to have representatives meet in a public forum, subject to the Brown Act, to review opportunities for joint use of land, environmental concerns, public safety concerns and other opportunities to accomplish their core missions with fewer funds. The item, presented to the council by 7th District Councilmember James Johnson, must be approved with a vote of the school board at a future meeting before the committee is formed.

“The reality is we all have less,” Johnson said. “The school district has less money to work on their mission. The city has less money to work toward our mission.”

One-square mile area of Long Beach is being used as an evaluation area of the effectiveness of an eradication program to eliminate the infestation of the light brown apple moth. The evaluation area extends from Ocean Boulevard north to 8th Street and from Temple Avenue east to Ximeno Avenue.

With the support of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), California Department of Food and Agriculture (CFA) and the County of Los Angeles Agriculture Commissioner, an evaluation began on June 16 in which 100,000 to 500,000 sterilized moths are released weekly to disrupt the reproductive process of these pests. The process, called sterile insect technique, has been used to eradicate other invasive insects but is in the trial phases for eradicating the moth.

The light brown apple moth, a quarter-inch moth species, is a declared pest nationally and internationally. It was first discovered in California in 2007 and has threatened nurseries and agricultural crops in 20 counties. The moth, which is native to Australia, has been attacked over the years through quarantine measures such as aerial spraying of synthetic pheromones to disrupt mating and releasing wasps that kill the moth.

Long Beach was selected for an evaluation of the sterile insect technique because of the heavily concentrated infestation in the city, according to the supporting agencies.

Allegiant announced that effective November 18, the low-cost carrier is moving two of its flights from Long Beach Airport (LGB) to Los Angeles International.

The airline is discontinuing nonstop flights from LGB to Bellingham, Washington, and Idaho Falls, according to an announcement released July 15. Allegiant continues with its flights to Las Vegas and Colorado Springs from Long Beach.

“Moving these flights from Long Beach to Los Angeles will give our customers additional options to fly to the heart of Los Angeles,” said Andrew Levy, president of Allegiant Travel Company, in a prepared statement. “They can continue to enjoy Allegiant’s popular, low-fare, nonstop flights and travel deals to and from Southern California.”

In an effort to reduce the number of neighborhood billboards and reduce blight in Long Beach, city staff is working to modernize the city’s existing regulations of the outdoor advertisements.

After a moratorium on updating city billboard regulations was enacted in December 2009 and extended in 2010 through this year, the Long Beach City Council can no longer defer the item and must update the policy by December 14. The focus of the updates, according to City Planning Administrator Derek Burnham, is to consider that more heavily traveled corridors are more appropriate areas for billboards than residential zones.

Current regulations only allow billboards in commercial and industrial zones, with restrictions. Long Beach Development Services Department Director Amy Bodek told the city council at its June 21 meeting that, “There are about 350 billboards in the city, most of which could not be developed today under our current regulations . . . They were built and installed when our regulations were completely different.”

• The Los Angeles Harbor Commission adopted its fiscal year 2011-2012 budget of approximately $967.6 million for the Port of Los Angeles, with a 7.4 percent or $67 million increase from the current fiscal year adopted budget effective from July 1. The increase was due to higher total receipts from both operations and grant activities, which allowed for a rise in appropriations of operations and capital projects.

• The deadline for submitting abstracts for the 4th METRANS National Urban Freight Conference (to be held October 12-14 at the Hyatt Regency) has been extended to June 14. Each abstract is limited to 500 words and must include: a statement of research; methodology and data; and a brief summary of results and conclusions. For more information, visit http://www.metrans.org or call 562/985-2876.

City Hall News

• Sixth District Councilman Dee Andrews and New Life Beginnings are holding a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 10 a.m., June 18, for the Treasure Hunt Thriftque at 1178 E. Anaheim St. Among its many involvements, the New Life organization assists “crisis stricken pregnant or homeless women to get back on their feet.”

Bike Long Beach is conducting an online survey of Long Beach residents on road traffic preferences, conditions and concerns. Anyone who rides a bike, drives a car, walks or uses public transportation in the city is encouraged to fill out the survey, which is the first phase of a motorist and bicycle safety campaign being launched this summer. The survey, funded by a grant from the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, concludes July 15. To participate in the survey, visit www.surveymonkey.com/s/bikesafelb.

Long Beach is lucky enough to host the exclusive TED Conference each year that has drawn famous and inspirational speakers, such as Bill Gates and Al Gore, to converge on the ideas of “technology, entertainment and design.” But this year, the city is opening the doors for the general public to attend its own mini-version, with an interesting cadre of local luminaries.

The TEDx SoCal conference, x standing for independently organized, is expected to offer a day-long conference and interactive experience that features short talks and performances, spawned off the TED goal of “ideas worth spreading.” The event is held July 16 at the Center Theatre from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.